Yeah, we’re going there. 100 blog posts that recap the world of sports and sports business in 2007. If you aren’t listed here, and you want to be, please leave a message in the comments. A couple of sites I wanted to add to the list, but it was too hard for me to go back to find your stuff through your archives…and I was getting a little bit tired and lazy. Without further adieu…

January:

1. The New York Knicks. How are the Knicks the most valuable NBA franchise ($592 million)? Well, they had a 9% increase in value (from ’06 to ’07) while pulling in $185 million in revenue with a $118 million payroll and $39 million in operating losses. If the Knicks having $39 million in operating losses was the worst Knicks story this year? It’d be a great year, yes? (via SportsBiz)

2. Barbaro. Goodnight Sweet Prince. Has there ever been a horse that has capture the hearts and minds of dozens and dozens of people in America? Probably not. I spent many an hour perusing the now defunct Barbaro message board, and reading all of the hilarious comments. (via Deadspin)

3. Sexy Rexy. The posts on Rex Grossman (Sexy Rexy) were so entertaining that I still have one of the posts bookmarked a whole year later. In January, the guys over at KSK continued with their Sexy Rexy Super Bowl coverage (thank goodness Sexy Rexy took time out of his busy schedule to play in the Super Bowl!). (via Kissing Suzy Kolber)

4. Reggie Bush. Did Bush and his family get nearly $300,000 in money from his agent and boosters? Who knows. I don’t care now, but it was a big deal back in January (via Yahoo! Sports, see a defense of Bush via Money Players)

5. Bill Belichick. Long before Bill was stealing signs from the Jets, he was stealing a wife away from Vincent Shenocca. We really should have seen spygate coming. (via The Big Lead)

6. IMG gets bigger. What gift do you get for the worlds biggest (arguably) sports agency? In January of this year, IMG acquired CSI Sports, giving them TV rights for the Football Association and the England & Wales Cricket Board. (via Sports Agent Blog)

7. Ron Mexico. Is it Michael Vick’s fault that he likes to stay hydrated? Those airport security people taking his water from him is clearly an example of the man trying to keep him down. (via Deadspin)

8. No ESPN in China. Chinese fans of Yao Ming went on a killing spree in January, as ESPN was removed from Chinese programming as local Chinese authorities refused to renew ESPN’s permit. I’m assuming that everything has been resolved in the meantime. (via Awful Announcing)

9. NFL in London. Yay? The NFL announced that it would be playing its first regular season game outside of North America, with the game being played in London (in October, in the rain). If Roger Goodell had any hindsight, he may have changed his mind about the location…or at least the month, yes? (via Sports Biz)

February

10. The Rooney Rule. My Pittsburgh Steelers hired Mike Tomlin as their head coach. That hiring by the Rooneys and the fact that there were two black head coaches in the Super Bowl, brought about a look at the “Rooney Rule” and the progress being made with minority hires in the NFL (via Sports Law Blog)

11. The Rooney…not so much. While the NFL has made some progress in the minority hiring department, it seems that College Football has almost put everything in reverse (.05% of the coaches in Division I are African American). Maybe, instead of the problem being relegated to college football, its a much bigger problem? (via Sports Law Blog)

12. Tim loves the gays! In February, while on the Dan LeBatard’s radio show Tim Hardaway decided that only straight people should be allowed to see his penis. (P.S. John Amechi is gay, which apparently is a problem for Hardaway) (via Deadspin)

13. I make it rain. Pacman Jones introduces a whole bunch of people to the term “make it rain”…oh, and there may have been some shooting and stuff too. (via With Leather)

14. Gary Matthews Jr. & Steroids. This seemed like a huge deal at the time, really! News broke in February that many athletes may have received performance-enhancing drugs over the internet. Included in that grouping was Matthews Jr. who had just signed 5-year, $50 million dollar contract with the Angels, days before the story broke (via The Big Lead)

15. Scottie Pippen is broke! In February, Scottie Pippen was mulling a comeback. Why? because he was broke! It’s a sad day when Luc Longley has more money than Pippen. Anyone think he asked Jordan for a loan? (via The Big Lead)

16. Swimsuits. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. If you’re reading this and you’re saying posting about SI’s swimsuit issue didn’t help shape sports in 2007…all I can say is, “do you have a point?” (via With Leather)

18. If you forgot who Michael Ruffin is…In March, the Raptors played the Wizards. With a few seconds left, Michael Ruffin, a player for the Wizards, gets the ball, throws it up, trying to burn the clock and well…needless to say, the Wizards lost in overtime. Complete with Video! (via Deadspin)

19. Diego Maradona. If food were goals, Diego Maradona would have 800 goals. (via The Smittblog)

21. Elite 8 = Big Bucks. The month of March usually means one thing…March Madness. And if you’re lucky enough to coach in the tournament, you could be seeing a big jump in your salary in the future…especially if your team makes the Elite 8. (via Sports Agent Blog)

22. Women’s basketball is boring? The NCAA womens tournament apparently got decent TV ratings…but having 878 people show up to watch the games? That’s probably not so good. (via SportsBiz)

23. Man-U! Manchester United is worth a whole bunch of money. $1.4 billion to be exact. (via SportsBiz)

24. Clay Matthews loves black people…probably not. In one of the many Facebook scandals of 2007, USC linebacker Clay Matthews decided to create a Facebook group. The problem? Well, saying the group page was slightly racist may have been an understatement. The bigger problem? USC was content with letting it slide. (via The Wizard of Odds)

25. Pokey Chatman. Speaking of womens basketball, anyone remember when LSU Womens basketball coach Pokey Chatman was rumored to be involved in a relationship with a former athlete? Well, you remember now. (via Leave the Man Alone)

27. Kobe better than Jordan? Yes, in April, that argument really was brought up (I think it was initially brought up on ESPN, but I’m not sure). Looking for some common sense? go check out 100% Injury Rate. (via 100% Injury Rate)

28. Billy Packer is the new Tim Hardaway. Yes, Billy Packer did say “fag-out” on National TV. Yet, when looking back over the year in sports, not only is his incident not given anywhere near the negative press that Timmy got, his incident isn’t even remembered at all. Why? read and find out (P.S. “Duke hating” is discussed here as well) (via Nation of Islam)

29. Don Imus. April was “insensitivity month” in sports. Who could forget the whole “nappy headed hos” comment? The Nation does a good job of breaking this one down as well (via Nation of Islam)

30. Russell or Johnson? The NFL draft was in April. And the big question was who should the Raiders take with the first pick? We all know who the Raiders picked, but did they make the right choice? Debate. (via Winning the Turnover Battle)

31. Steelers…mascot? Why oh why did we do this? In April, the Steelers unveiled their new mascot, Steely McBeam. Because nothing says happy 75th anniversary better than making a big puppet with a very strong resemblance to the coach who just left…Oh, and he’s on steroids. (via Deadspin)

32. Baseball’s Opening Day. Even if you don’t love baseball, you have to at least show some interest in opening day in baseball. At least I do. There’s so much excitement…then you realize that these games will be coming on for the next 6 months. The most memorable moment of opening day this year has to be the first pitch from Cincy’s mayor. But the opening day recap is here. (via Awful Announcing)

33. Adrian Peterson. KSK had hilarious draft coverage, surprising no one. The best part of it was their coverage had to do with Adrian Peterson. A quote? “Stool Sample: CHUNKY!” (via Kissing Suzy Kolber)

May

34. MLB Draft…on TV! The MLB always seems to be about two to three years late on everything and televising their draft on TV was no exception. They finally got around to televising their entry draft in June of 2007 (although it was mentioned in May, so you had something to look forward to). (via Sports Agent Blog)

35. The Baseball Channel. 24 hour baseball coverage…are you ready for it? Well, its coming in 2009. Look at that, they didn’t even need months and months of litigation (take that NFL Network!) (via SportsBiz)

36. Snoop loves…hockey? In what is probably the funniest story of the year, rapper Snoop Dogg decided to go “Incognegro” for the Stanley Cup finals. What did he do, you ask? Put on probably the worst fake mustaches in history. (via Chris’ Sports Blog & Deadspin)

37. Rampage Jackson. I don’t know who thought it would be a good idea to follow UFC champion Rampage Jackson while he was shopping…for a jockstrap. But, I say thank you, nonetheless. (via The Big Lead)

39. NBC’s Hockey debacle. How much does the U.S. love hockey? not much. NBC cut away from the Ottawa-Buffalo playoff game to go…Preakness coverage. (via SportsBiz)

40. The Super Bowl was profitable. Yeah, there was a report done on the Super Bowl and the revenue generated (yes, it takes three months to compile everything). This year’s game brought in 463 million in revenue. In other news, the Bears are still looking for a QB. (via With Leather)

41. Amanda Beard in Playboy. This news broke in May…Do I really need to explain this? (via With Leather)

42. Bob Bradley will lead us to gold. I know that soccer isn’t something that everybody in America follows too closely, but it was a big deal back in May when Bob Bradley was officially named the head coach of the U.S. Mens Soccer team (he was the interim head coach after the U.S. waived bye-bye to Bruce Arenas). Let’s see what happens in the 2010 World Cup. (via Sports Biz)

June

43. The Pirate walkout. My beloved Pirates were in the middle of sucking as usual, when some of the locals here in Pittsburgh decided to stage a walkout. It didn’t quite go as planned…and the Pirates still suck. (via Larry Brown Sports)

44. Woody Paige gets sued. June brought with it sexual harassment allegations on the set of ESPN’s cold pizza. Namely, a woman claiming that Woody Paige pinched her so hard she was propelled forward into the air. I doubt its true though…he has over 200 wins on Around the Horn, so he automatically gets a pass. (via Deadspin)

45. Jeff Reed, greatest kicker ever. If you don’t know the history of Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Jeff Reed, I suggest you go read up. For now, all I’ll say is that if I ever see him out in Pittsburgh? I’m definitely buying him drinks. (via Deadspin)

47. Rod Beck. I remember watching him as a kid, and thinking he was just dominant. He looked menacing, threw hard, and got saves. It was sad to see him go. Especially after reading some of the great stories about him. (via Deadspin)

48. A good day. June 29, 2007. That’s the day that Frank Thomas hit his 500th HR, and Craig Biggio got his 3,000 hit. nuff said. (via The Big Lead)

49. Chris Benoit. A sad story indeed when in June, the world found out that WWE wrestler Chris Benoit killed his family and himself. Drugs (steroids) seemed to be the cause of this senseless killing (via The Big Lead)

54. Barry Bonds to Africa. So…where should Bonds go after breaking that home run record? Africa, of course. (via Nation of Islam)

55. Mike Vick gets a visit from the Feds. Federal Agents spent most of July digging up and visiting Mike Vick’s home in Virginia. Wonder if they’ll find anything there…? (via With Leather)

56. Tony Parker is married. In July, Tony Parker and Eva Longoria finally tied the not. Strange now, that only 5 months later, rumors that he cheated on her with Alexandra Paressant are rampant. (via With Leather)

57. The day west coast offense died. Bill Walsh, the man who the put on the front of the best sega genesis college football game died in July. He was 75. (via Deadspin)

58. Kevin Garnett moves. The trade that started every NBA prognosticator on a ’07 Celts/’95 Bulls comparison. KG goes to the Celtics, to join Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Let all the retarded acronyms commence! (via Celtics Blog)

59. Pacman likes wrestling. So, what do you do if your Pacman Jones, you’ve been arrested more times than anyone can count, you’ve “Made It Rain” in a strip club (see #13), and you’ve been suspended from your job? Simple…you wrestle. (via 100% Injury Rate)

60. Referee Scandal. Yeah, that whole Tim Donaghy was a pretty big deal. Especially when he was the referee during some playoff games (Spurs/Suns series anyone?) (via Epic Carnival/With Malice)

August

61. The O.J. Mayo era begins. August brought with it the official start of the “O.J. Mayo 1 year college extravaganza”. Back then, people were waiting to see if he could live up to the hype. I think for the most part, the jury is still out…but its pretty early still. (via The Big Lead)

62. Fenway Sports Group. You know, quite as its kept, the Red Sox have a little bit of “Evil Empire” in them as well. They need someway to help pay off that luxury tax, right? (via Lion in Oil)

63. Tiger Woods…leaves home without it. In August, Tiger Woods and American Express decided to amicably part ways. American Express apparently wanted to be more consumer oriented (huh? so you get rid of Tiger Woods?) or was it maybe that Tiger Woods was about to become too expensive? (via Sports Agent Blog)

64. Bonds goes deep. #756. All was right with the world, at least for a little while (anybody else think Hank Aaron was ready to come out of retirement and hit a couple more, just to stop this from happening?) See the video. (via Deadspin)

65. Japanese people…Welcome to the NFL! Noriaki Kinoshita was aiming to become the first Japanese player to play in the NFL (he was in training camp with the Falcons). He didn’t make it, but its still progress, right? (via Lion in Oil)

66. Mt. Rushmore of Criminal Athletes. I love this post. The only question is, who makes your Mt. Rushmore of criminals? Quite a lot to choose from, isn’t there? (via The Big Lead)

67. Reggie to Boston? Man, the Celtics are looking pretty good right now (except for the fact they haven’t played any road games against any good Western Conference people yet). How much better would they have been with Reggie on their team instead of in the booth? (via Juiced Sports Blog)

68. Michael Vick apologizes. Boy oh boy. Mike Vick was America’s villain for most of the year. In August, he decided to sincerely(?) apologize. Can he still be redeemed? Have to wait and see. (via Sports Business Digest)

69. Travis Henry is not impotent. 9 kids. 9 different women. Better than that? He had to borrow money from the Titans to pay child support. Your move, Shawn Kemp. (via All Talk Sports)

71. Lets rank the bloggers. The list of the 100 most influential sports bloggers, as done by the guys over at Juiced Sports Blog. (via Juiced Sports Blog)

72. Tickets by Cellphone. Another innovative marketing idea which should be big in 2008. Order your tickets by cellphone people! Sounds like a great idea, except for those of you who lose your phone often (via Sports Biz/Darren Rovell)

73. A-Rod to become player/owner of the Cubs? This was a big deal in September, when Will Leitch of Deadspin wrote an article in the New York Magazine discussing the possibility of A-Rod leaving New York and going to Chicago. Cubs fans were probably pretty excited…it was short lived. (via Sports Business Digest)

74. Bonds’ home run ball. Fashion Designer Mark Ecko bought Bonds’ home run ball. And sent it to the hall of fame…with an asterisk. (via Sports Business Digest)

75. Spygate. Oh yeah, there was that whole Patriots illegally videotaping the Jets thing in September. Yeah, they got punished for it too…sort of. (via Sports Business Digest)

76. Tim Hardaway’s penis…now a friend to gays. Look who’s reformed! (see #12). In 2008, I look for Tim Hardaway to move in with Elton John and Sir Ian McKellan. (via Lion in Oil)

77. Drug testing…in golf? Clearly, they’re going after John Daly. Professional golf will start doping testing in 2008. I still haven’t decided if its because everybody else has a testing policy and golf feels left out, or because people are worried because Tiger Woods is now muscular and people are overreacting. (via Sports Biz)

78. Meltdowns complete. For the sake of Mets fans, I won’t go into details, but no, they didn’t make the playoffs in 2007. (via The Big Lead). Also joining the meltdown party? the Michigan Wolverines. Yes, they did lose to a division II team…when they were ranked #5 in the country (via Deadspin)

80. Reggie Bush received money. Back in October, Lloyd Lake was in the process of bringing forward evidence showing that Reggie Bush had received money and benefits during his time in college. I know…a college superstar receiving gifts while in college. I was shocked too. (via Ick’s Corner)

81. Patriots revenge. You know, that whole spygate thing really pissed off Belichick. He’s been trying to get into the BCS based on score differential ever since. Back in October after the Redskins debacle, there was some issue of giving Tom Brady a little chin music. Opinions varied. (via The Big Lead)

82. Joe Torre leaves the Yankees. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Wouldn’t you leave your job if you boss was giving you shit all the time and you know you’re doing a good job? (via Lion in Oil)

83. John Kitna has the best Halloween costume ever. Last year, Lions assistant Joe Cullen decided to drive, drunk and naked to Wendys. Needless to say, he got arrested. One guess as to what John Kitna’s Halloween costume was this year. (via The Big Lead)

84. Kobe to the Bulls? There have been a lot of talk about Kobe being traded because in part, he’s pissed off Jerry Buss, and Buss has pissed him off as well. Earlier in the season, there was talk of him going to the Bulls. Most Bulls fans wouldn’t have minded that one bit. (via Everythings Coming Up Milhouse)

85. The Super Bowl…in London? Yes, football is trying to go global. Yes, regular season games in London are tolerable (except for the weather). But, the Super Bowl? lets not get ahead of ourselves, Mr. Goodell (via Sports Business Digest)

86. A-Rod opts out. In what can only be described as the most “classy” move ever. A-Rod’s agent, Scott Boras decided to announce that A-Rod was opting out of his Yankees contract during game 4 of the World Series. Boras probably thought this was a great marketing strategy, because everyone was watching, but it really only pissed everyone off (via Sports Business Digest)

87. Knicks Sexual Harassment suit. Why bother talking about this? All respect due to Patrick Ewing, but the Knicks just need to be disbanded and never spoken of again. (via Deadspin)

November

88. Victoria Secret Fashion Show. Yes, there is a very tenuous connection between sports and the Victoria Secret Fashion Show. But, one of the models is dating a sports player, so I feel overly compelled to make mention of it. (via With Leather)

89. Patriots 16-0*. In November, when the Patriots were already well on their way to their 16-0 season (only 2 games to go), Don Shula came out with this statement about the Pats season being voided out due to spygate. He later eased up on his statement, leading us to a winter full of Mercury Morris rapping on ESPN. Gee thanks Don. (via Troy’s Thoughts on Sports)

90. Sean Taylor. In what can only be termed a tragic loss, Redskins safety Sean Taylor died in November, after being shot in his home in an attempted burglary. The worst part about this story was the fact that everyone jumped on it like his upbringing brought this on him…Apparently people who grow up on the “sunny side of the street” don’t get robbed, or killed. (via Deadspin)

91. The Sonics are moving? Will the last one out the door turn off the lights? Looks like the Sonics are playing their last year in Seattle, and I can’t quite figure out if Seattle fans care or not. Their new destination appears to be Oklahoma, who is clamoring for professional basketball (via Sports Business Digest)

92. Helio Castroneves can dance. Not only did Helio Castroneves win ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, he also has his popularity from the dance world spilling into his racing. Look for a bunch of people to do the twist in August 2008 (Lion In Oil)

93. Marketing and Endorsement money. You know, a lot of people are surprised, but the way sports agents make their money are through endorsement deals (in part because they can get a bigger piece of the pie, as opposed to contract negotiation). (via Sports Agent Blog)

94. NFL Network. There have been big issues with the NFL network this year…Why? because most fans can’t see the games. Why not? basically because the network and the cable providers are arguing over money. (via Sports Business Digest)

December

95. The Mitchell Report. This was big news (sort of) in the baseball world. Although the report didn’t really tell baseball fans anything they didn’t already know, the report named names (for better or worse). (via pretty much every sports site. Deadspin has this kick ass chart from Slate though)

95(a). Lets not forget the separate indictment of Barry Bonds. Steroid era is in full effect, yo!

96. The Dolphins win! I was honestly thinking they would go 0-16, but no. Those scrappy Dolphins pulled off a win in overtime against the Baltimore “what the hell happened to this team since last year?” Ravens. Bill Parcells was so impressed, he decided to join up with the team for next season (via Deadspin)

97. Michelle Wie. Finally, after a very prolonged bit of suffering, Michelle Wie has decided to only play against girls. I hope she dominates…take up playing against guys once they call you the greatest womens player. (via The Big Lead)

98. Brett Favre is unstoppable. Is there anything he can’t do? #4 has set numerous records this season, including most TD’s, most INT’s, and his most recent, most passing yards…he’s over 61,000. Crazy. (via The Sultan on Sports)

99. Trouble in Dallas? The Cowboys were rolling along until Tony Romo started dating Jessica Simpson. Then T.O. got involved, and everyone was literally blaming the loss on Jessica. I don’t remember her throwing the slant very well…everyone is probably right. (via Icks Corner)

100. What did I miss? 100 posts certainly doesn’t cover the entire year in sports…what did I miss? leave your message in the comments, and if its noteworthy, I’ll add it to the post.